1.They didn't have enough food for people. 2.The army was complicated because they cut down the forest so they had no places to live. 3. Wood was the source to burn but it keeps smelling up the area that it smells like burning metal and people don't want to breath that in. 4. Houses were built out of wood so it was easier to burn down and once one house got burnt down the whole block was on fire. 5. Garage disposals cause dair pollution. 6. Burning wood caused air pollution.
7. Sewage keep overflowing 8. The put lead down the drain and that caused poison
They have to much imfamous air. They minted the coins. People brought in illegal animals that killed people. Pollution was caused by burning wood,and smelting of ores, decaying trash. It was destroying people,vegetation,and animals. Pollution was the main problem. In Alaska their tempurture climate is to low so its effecting the animals. Well when you use a regular garbage bag it take over 10 years to go away but when you use Bio bags it only takes about 1 week to dispose.Garbage bags are taking up space. Climate is effecting certain parts off the world. One problem is that some people don't recycle and its very important to recycle.
Other problem is that There architecture was very week is our builting week or strong think do they fall over easily.
Chris. "Environmentalism in 100 A.D." Environmentalism in 100 A.D. Chris, 01 Jan. 2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.
Trash and Wood Burning." Human Health Hazard. The Official Internet Site of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 10 Sept. 2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.
This is a problem to polar bears.
Factory pollutions. Ocean pollution
Garbage pollution
Noise pollution Toxic pollution
My Questions:
1. How does the climate effect people and their day?
2. How would certain types of mushrooms help the world??
3. Rome had so many erosion problems. How does this effect the world today?
4. The climate back then in Rome was cold. So how is the climate today effecting polar bears?
5. When people started to mint coins did it cause people to loss jobs back then and how does it impact our world today?
6. If we could still put gold on coins and it wasn't expensive now would we still use gold or still mint coins? 7. Why did smelting things cause major pollution and if they knew it cause pollution why did people still smelt? 8. Why was copper and metal release into the atmosphere and how did it just go away?
Dear Jessica,
I am not an expert on ancient Rome, in general, and doubt that anyone is a true "expert" on how pollution might have affected the fall of the Roman Empire. As empires go, Rome lasted a long time. One might more effectively ask, "Why did the Roman Empire hold sway for so long?" I don't know the answer to that question, either.
There has been some speculation that drinking out of lead vessels caused a loss in mental faculties for the Romans and that is a part of why they finally could no longer retain power. That explanation seems a bit of a stretch, compared to the simple fact that they had many enemies who lusted for the riches of Rome.
Was there pollution in the days of the Roman Empire? Of course there was in the sense that pollution is generally a result of waste products -- from industry-like processes and from human and animal excrement, etc. Given the relatively low concentrations of human settlements in that period of history, the problems could have been "solved" primarily by siting industry-like processes in areas removed from population centers and by removing the human and animal waste products (spreading them on fields to increase agricultural production.)
Well, for someone who doesn't know much about the topic I have offered enough opinions. I must say one last thing, however: I find it curious that Middle School social studies students are charged with such a research project. If I were trying to have students learn something from the long success of the Roman Empire and then its ultimate fall, I think I would like them to think more about the Empire's government structure, its market system, and other sociological explanations for their great success.
All the best to you and your fellow students, Jessica.
Kenneth W. Chilton, Ph.D. Senior Environmental Fellow Lindenwood University St. Charles, MO
Hi Jessica,
We have scientists here that are experts on lead contamination and I asked them to look at your questions. They have provided some answers to your questions that I included below. Their answers include some scientific papers for you to read. If you need help with these, I would be happy to help interpret anything you have questions about or possibly your teacher could help as well.
Stephen Musson, PhD, CIH, CHMM
Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Program Manager
National Risk Management Research Lab
United States Environmental Protection Agency
26 W. Martin Luther King Dr.
Cincinnati, OH 45268
phone: 513-569-7969
fax: 513-569-7585
Answer 1
Wow, those are great questions. Each one of them is probably an MS thesis or PhD dissertation all by itself. I really don't have much knowledge or experience on the dust and smelter contamination issues, though I suspect there are some archaeological articles on it. I'm sure it was a significant topic of interest, along with the way metal mining, smelting and fabrication technologies moved across the world.
There is also an old civil engineering text that a colleague of mine once mentioned that was written by a Roman engineer who talked about the design and use of lead plumbing (plumbing coming from plumbum, the latin word for the element lead and origin of the symbol Pb, which I knew before reading the EPA web site...). I'll see if I can find out more specifics on that one.
Here are couple of other on-line easy-to-access pieces of information:
The adverse consequences seemed to get lost over the ages, and got rediscovered in Europe, particularly Scotland, Britain and Germany, in the 19th century. From the water standpoint, there's a lot of that documented in a great book (though a bit tedious to read) called "The Great Lead Water Pipe Disaster" by Werner Troeskin, which is apparently available on-line now for free.
I can't add much to what has already been noted, though here is a paper by Jerome Nriagu, covering occupational exposure to lead during the Roman Empire.
I would say that they were somewhat aware of the contamination issues, but since the miners were often slave labor and the craftsmen were 'lower class,' the aristocracy didn't give it much thought (other than to avoid the area around the mines).
2.The army was complicated because they cut down the forest so they had no places to live.
3. Wood was the source to burn but it keeps smelling up the area that it smells like burning metal and people don't want to breath that in.
4. Houses were built out of wood so it was easier to burn down and once one house got burnt down the whole block was on fire.
5. Garage disposals cause dair pollution.
6. Burning wood caused air pollution.
7. Sewage keep overflowing
8. The put lead down the drain and that caused poison
They have to much imfamous air.
They minted the coins.
People brought in illegal animals that killed people.
Pollution was caused by burning wood,and smelting of ores, decaying trash.
It was destroying people,vegetation,and animals.
Pollution was the main problem.
In Alaska their tempurture climate is to low so its effecting the animals.
Well when you use a regular garbage bag it take over 10 years to go away but when you use Bio bags it only takes about 1 week to dispose.Garbage bags are taking up space.
Climate is effecting certain parts off the world.
One problem is that some people don't recycle and its very important to recycle.
Other problem is that There architecture was very week is our builting week or strong think do they fall over easily.
brian.pyatt@ntu.ac.ukBoy, Sparkly. "Talking Trash -- Garbage Problems." Garbage Problems. Info@composterconnection.com, 01 Jan. 2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.
Chris. "Environmentalism in 100 A.D." Environmentalism in 100 A.D. Chris, 01 Jan. 2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.
Trash and Wood Burning." Human Health Hazard. The Official Internet Site of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 10 Sept. 2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.
Ocean pollution
My Questions:
1. How does the climate effect people and their day?
2. How would certain types of mushrooms help the world??
3. Rome had so many erosion problems. How does this effect the world today?
4. The climate back then in Rome was cold. So how is the climate today effecting polar bears?
5. When people started to mint coins did it cause people to loss jobs back then and how does it impact our world today?
6. If we could still put gold on coins and it wasn't expensive now would we still use gold or still mint coins?
7. Why did smelting things cause major pollution and if they knew it cause pollution why did people still smelt?
8. Why was copper and metal release into the atmosphere and how did it just go away?
Dear Jessica,
I am not an expert on ancient Rome, in general, and doubt that anyone is a true "expert" on how pollution might have affected the fall of the Roman Empire. As empires go, Rome lasted a long time. One might more effectively ask, "Why did the Roman Empire hold sway for so long?" I don't know the answer to that question, either.
There has been some speculation that drinking out of lead vessels caused a loss in mental faculties for the Romans and that is a part of why they finally could no longer retain power. That explanation seems a bit of a stretch, compared to the simple fact that they had many enemies who lusted for the riches of Rome.
Was there pollution in the days of the Roman Empire? Of course there was in the sense that pollution is generally a result of waste products -- from industry-like processes and from human and animal excrement, etc. Given the relatively low concentrations of human settlements in that period of history, the problems could have been "solved" primarily by siting industry-like processes in areas removed from population centers and by removing the human and animal waste products (spreading them on fields to increase agricultural production.)
Well, for someone who doesn't know much about the topic I have offered enough opinions. I must say one last thing, however: I find it curious that Middle School social studies students are charged with such a research project. If I were trying to have students learn something from the long success of the Roman Empire and then its ultimate fall, I think I would like them to think more about the Empire's government structure, its market system, and other sociological explanations for their great success.
All the best to you and your fellow students, Jessica.
Kenneth W. Chilton, Ph.D.
Senior Environmental Fellow
Lindenwood University
St. Charles, MO
Hi Jessica,
We have scientists here that are experts on lead contamination and I asked them to look at your questions. They have provided some answers to your questions that I included below. Their answers include some scientific papers for you to read. If you need help with these, I would be happy to help interpret anything you have questions about or possibly your teacher could help as well.
Stephen Musson, PhD, CIH, CHMM
Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Program Manager
National Risk Management Research Lab
United States Environmental Protection Agency
26 W. Martin Luther King Dr.
Cincinnati, OH 45268
phone: 513-569-7969
fax: 513-569-7585
Answer 1
Wow, those are great questions. Each one of them is probably an MS thesis or PhD dissertation all by itself. I really don't have much knowledge or experience on the dust and smelter contamination issues, though I suspect there are some archaeological articles on it. I'm sure it was a significant topic of interest, along with the way metal mining, smelting and fabrication technologies moved across the world.
Jerome Nriagu wrote a reference book in the 1980s on lead and the Roman Empire. http://books.google.com/books?id=O6RTAAAAMAAJ&q=inauthor:%22Jerome+O.+Nriagu%22&dq=inauthor:%22Jerome+O.+Nriagu%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=O_X_UMzIIOiy0QGzsoHgDA&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBDgK
There's an interesting historical tidbit on an EPA web site, which indicates considerable awareness of bad consequences: http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/perspect/lead.html
There is also an old civil engineering text that a colleague of mine once mentioned that was written by a Roman engineer who talked about the design and use of lead plumbing (plumbing coming from plumbum, the latin word for the element lead and origin of the symbol Pb, which I knew before reading the EPA web site...). I'll see if I can find out more specifics on that one.
Here are couple of other on-line easy-to-access pieces of information:
http://www.ajol.info/index.php/actat/article/viewFile/52570/41176
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/wine/leadpoisoning.html
The adverse consequences seemed to get lost over the ages, and got rediscovered in Europe, particularly Scotland, Britain and Germany, in the 19th century. From the water standpoint, there's a lot of that documented in a great book (though a bit tedious to read) called "The Great Lead Water Pipe Disaster" by Werner Troeskin, which is apparently available on-line now for free.
http://fs1.bib.tiera.ru/content/dvd69/Troesken%20W.%20The%20Great%20Lead%20Water%20Pipe%20Disaster%20(2006)(en)(318s).pdf
Answer 2
Those are indeed great questions.
I can't add much to what has already been noted, though here is a paper by Jerome Nriagu, covering occupational exposure to lead during the Roman Empire.
I would say that they were somewhat aware of the contamination issues, but since the miners were often slave labor and the craftsmen were 'lower class,' the aristocracy didn't give it much thought (other than to avoid the area around the mines).
http://docs.google.com/a/foresthills.edu/presentation/d/1-Wkk0NtpK-jDGWZGTGY_LvtgTp3dUmppMV-ycmkAEws/edit#slide=id.g9fbf9642_00.